Asia barters for scarce energy

Indonesia's leader visited Tokyo this week in Asia's latest flurry of fuel bartering efforts to offset crippling shortages caused by conflict in the Middle East, a key source of regional energy supplies.



The race for alternatives has hotted up as China, the world's second largest economy, imposed fuel export bans, while nations such as South Korea and Thailand try to exploit the lifting of U.S. sanctions on Russian energy as a stopgap move.



Matters are getting desperate for poorer nations as the Philippines became the first to declare a national energy emergency, Sri Lanka cut its work week to four days and rationed fuel, and Myanmar limited car drivers to alternate days.



Southeast Asia's biggest economy and the world's fourth most populous country, Indonesia is also expected to announce curbs in coming days.